Posted on 07/01/2011 6:55:12 AM PDT by marshmallow
She Entered the Convent the Day Benedict XVI Was Born
GUADALAJARA, Spain, JUNE 30, 2011 (Zenit.org) - She entered the Cistercian Buenafuente del Sistal Convent the day that Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) was born, and today Sister Teresa is 103 years old and the world's record holder for having lived the longest as a cloistered nun.
After 84 years as a cloistered nun, Sister Teresa says that the greatest gift she has received has been prayer: "Without it, one cannot sustain oneself. I never cease repeating: 'Thank you, forgive. Thank you, forgive.'"
The nun is one of 10 cloistered nuns profiled in the Spanish-language book "¿Qué hace una chica como tú en un sitio como éste?" (What's a Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?). In the book, author Jesús Garcia brings to light the secluded world of cloistered nuns by getting to know what life is like behind the grail, and what inspired them to join.
Sister Teresa's story began as young girl living in Alava, Spain. She was known then as Valeria, and she was happy with her life on the family farm. "We were in the field from morning 'til night, working, but we were happy," she said.
The eldest of seven children, her father saw how hard Valeria and her younger sister worked and he wanted a different life for them. "Thinking nuns didn’t work, [my father] would say to my sister and me: 'Wouldn’t you like to be nuns?'" she recalls.
"I didn’t like nuns," she continued, "given how comfortable I was at home, [but] to please my father, [I] prayed to the patroness of Vitoria and asked her to give me a vocation. And did she give me one!"
Upon entering the Cistercian convent in Guadalajara, Spain, Valeria took the name Teresa. "I was afraid to enter, but the Lord helped me," she said. The sister said that she prayed to both God and St. Teresa for the courage to be committed to her new vocation.
Though Sister Teresa says that there was a time when she wondered about her contribution to society from behind the convent walls, her worries were soon put to rest: "Once, I was tempted to imagine how my life would be outside [the convent] because I felt I wasn’t contributing anything by being here."
She adds that it is a concern of many cloistered nuns. After consulting a priest about her feelings, Sister Teresa says "He told me I had a very beautiful vocation; that it’s worthwhile."
Sister Teresa says that she is very happy and does not desire anything from the outside world. "It’s a grace from God," she says. "I know that many won’t understand my way of living, but I don’t understand any other."
What i cannot understand is how people can disparage a 103 year old woman who has devoted her life to prayer. Ok, you don’t agree with some of the Faith, but these are women who voluntarily choose to follow their vocation to pray for all. Only sad vile people could criticize a person who has devoted their lives to prayer.
Amazing! Getting caught in a verifiable falsehood and continuing to brazen it out!
You have to wonder at the depth and breadth of hatred for the church at this point by the antis.
That's convenient. So, just how would one post resources that one doesn't really have?
Once you have that train ticket to heaven in your hand, no sin can void it, including lying about the Church. In fact, that probably gets you a first class upgrade in some cults.
I pointed out that the site of Babylon is 50 km from Baghdad and is a big archaeological dig site, so the chances of it becoming a banking centre is about the same as if the Great Pyramid at Giza became the new headquarters of JP Morgan, but no, the poster believes in wild ideas with no proof and will insist on it.
And this extends to the lack of knowledge on the bible -- next to zero, yet expects us to toss aside our beliefs and the beliefs our family, our church has held for 2000 years in favor of their unbiblical, uneducated rot is incredible. What egotists!
Lesbian Bishops kind of makes the sale of indulgences look tame by comparison.
Well, one can make stuff up and then say "I will not be posting my resources" or say "you're out of the loop" or "I got gnostic knowledge"
Lesbian bishops?? Yikes. Wonder how long they can keep that from leaking out.
“Lesbian Bishops kind of makes the sale of indulgences look tame by comparison.”
Adulterous male homosexual bishops married to their male sexual partners/co-respondants to the bishops’ divorce would have Luther committing suicide as he realized the damage he caused.
The children of the Reformation have done so from the beginning of the Reformation.
You're just saying this because it's true.
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